On top of the features in Trend Micro's entry-level suite, Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2014 adds advanced parental control, password management, and online backup and file-sharing. However, only the backup system really shines.

Features Shared with the AntivirusTrend Micro's entry-level antivirus has a plus-sign in its name, for good reason. It offers quite a few security features beyond basic malware protection.

In testing, I found its behavior-based blocking system a bit hyperactive. It flagged quite a few PCMag utilities as suspicious and even quarantined one as malicious. I use a number of hand-coded utilities for testing and analysis; it quarantined every single one of them. I had to add them to the exclusions list in order to finish my testing.

The anti-phishing component, on the other hand, didn't block any valid websites, and its accuracy was quite impressive. I compare phishing solutions against Norton, because Norton has a consistently high detection rate. Trend Micro came in just one percentage point behind Norton in my antiphishing test. The only suites that have beaten Norton in recent tests are Bitdefender and Kaspersky PURE 3.0 Total Security, both coming in three percentage points above Norton. My antiphishing test methodology is explained in the article see How We Test Antiphishing.

Trend Micro's spam filter also proved quite accurate. I analyze its treatment of over 5,000 recent real-world messages, including spam, valid personal mail, and valid bulk mail (newsletters and such). It didn't slow email downloading the way McAfee Internet Security 2014 did. On the other hand, it erroneously blocked 1.5 percent of valid personal mail and 5.3 percent of valid bulk mail and it let 5.9 percent of spam into the Inbox. McAfee blocked no valid mail at all and missed just 3.7 percent of spam. For details on the way I analyze antispam accuracy, see How We Test Antispam.

Trend Micro products rely on Windows Firewall to do the job it does so well, simply adding a "Firewall Booster" to help with network vulnerabilities. The booster doesn't attempt to control what programs can access the network, but it did block over half of the exploit attacks I threw at it. In addition, it rebuffed all my attempts to disable protection the way a malicious program might.

Shared Suite FeaturesWith so much protection in the entry-level antivirus, you might wonder just what Trend Micro could add to make a full security suite. Read my review of Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2014. I'll summarize those shared features here.

The news media are full of stories about people getting themselves into trouble by failing to keep their social media interactions private. Keeping your settings straight can be tough, especially for Facebook, which keeps changing them. The Privacy Scanner will check your settings for Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. If you agree with its recommended changes, it will apply them automatically. Trend Micro also marks up links on social media pages to distinguish safe links from those that lead to trouble.

Data Theft Protection aims to prevent data-stealing Trojans from transmitting private data out of your PC; it can also help you avoid sending sensitive data accidentally. Just record the credit card numbers, addresses, phone numbers, and so on that you want to protect. Trend Micro will prevent transmission via email and instant messaging, and also block them on "untrustworthy websites."

The System Tuner component streamlines your system by removing useless and erroneous items and also clears away traces of your Internet and computer usage. You don't get a clear report of just what it did, so if you suspect the cleanup caused a problem you'll need to run System Restore.

Trend Micro VaultThe Trend Micro Vault is only found in the Maximum edition of the suite. It's an encrypted storage location for your most sensitive files. When you've unlocked it with your password, you can treat it like any other folder, moving files into and out of it, editing files in place, and so on. When it's locked, those files are completely inaccessible.

Bitdefender, AVG, and Kaspersky offer a similar feature, but with these products you define as many fixed-size secure folders as you want. Trend Micro just gives you one vault, but it's not limited in size and it has one unique trick.

If your computer ever gets stolen, you can log on to Trend Micro's website and "seal" the Vault. I tried it; shortly after I reported the test system stolen, it spontaneously rebooted (sorry, Mister Thief, did you forget to save your work?). On reboot, there was no evidence of the vault's existence. Yet when I logged back into the online portal reported the test system as recovered, the vault reappeared right away.

When you move a sensitive file into the vault, you'll want to take care that the original is securely deleted. The best technique is to copy that file into the vault and then use the Secure Erase feature to securely delete the original beyond any possibility of forensic file recovery. Note that the basic suite includes Secure Erase.

Neil Rubenking served as vice president and president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years when the IBM PC was brand new. He was present at the formation of the Association of Shareware Professionals, and served on its board of directors. In 1986, PC Magazine brought Neil on board to handle the torrent of Turbo Pascal tips submitted by readers. By 1990, he had become PC Magazine's technical editor, and a coast-to-coast telecommuter. His "User to User" column supplied readers with tips...
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